Pokémon: The Real World
by Never-Rebel
Summary: Some years into our own Earth's future, Pokémon have been brought into the world. But, were they really meant to be here? Tanya Dumas, a determined trainer and Pokémon lover, certainly thinks so.
1. By Chance

****

Disclaimer – I'm sorry, no, I just don't own Pokémon… *sniffles* I only wish I did. So please, don't send lawyers after me. Those jury people are only there to see who's got the better lawyer anyway!

****

Author's Note – Just taking a break from my Eradication series of fics. :P I'll probably do this in between each of them, or work on this when I'm bored. Just a little idea that sprung up in my incredibly twisted mind – Who knows where it'll go. Each chapter will be an entire episode, longer then normal, but not overly long. 

**** ****

Pokémon

The Real World

By Toreina-Mei

a.k.a.

The Dark Trainer

****

Episode 1

:

By Chance

~~~~~~~~~~

"Tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock, the doors will be opening to the 'Safari Reserve'," the female voice of the reporter floated from the television where an 11 year old Tanya Dumas squealed delightedly, bouncing up and down on her bed.

"Scientists have finally given the okay for Pokémon to be released into the real world, and many of the higher level and second stage evolutions have been released into the United States for trainers to capture. Any passer-by's of these wild Pokémon are told to simply ignore them, and they will not bother you. For children 10 and up, you may come down to the Safari Reserve to select a Pokémon you would like to begin with. The lowest cost of a starting Pokémon is thirty thousand dollars – Cash and checks only. Children under 18 will not be permitted to buy a Pokémon without parental consent."

"Thirty thousand dollars?!" Tanya repeated, "Only rich little snobs are going to be able to get Pokémon…"

"Hey, keep it down, runt. I'm trying to do my homework," Tanya's sister, Amy, smacked the wall that separated their rooms for effect.

Amy was six years older then Tanya and a senior in high school, but if you stood them next to each other, Tanya would look like the older one. Tanya was tall for someone just starting 6th grade at 5'4". Her hair was a dark coconut color, cut to her shoulders and carefully twisted and spiked at the ends. She wasn't big on socializing with kids her age – Most of them were stuck up gossiped about the latest couple in school. Middle school was the official time that kids dubbed themselves as being allowed to date and swear. Tanya, though, preferred to concentrate on her studies, mainly her trainer's studies. 

Three years ago, the schools were required to add in Pokémon studies for kids who might be interested in becoming trainers. The classes never said how scientists had brought Pokémon into the real world, but she did know that scientists had been studying them for five years now. Seeing if they could survive here, what kind of impact they would have, how quickly they could reproduce, and most importantly – If they would harm people. And now, five years later, scientists were releasing Pokémon to public, satisfied with their studies. From what Tanya knew, every species of Pokémon had been brought into America. There was just one little problem, she didn't have the money to afford one.

Tanya had watched the Pokémon episodes on T.V, she'd seen various Pokémon of the wild select someone that it wanted to be its trainer. But from the information provided by the news reported, only high level and second evolutionaries had been released into the wild for capture. Those aren't usually the types that come begging to have a home with a young lady.

She envied the wealthy kids she knew would populate the Reserve tomorrow morning. In this society, many of them only learned reading, writing and basic mathematics in their private schooling. After that, they began learning the finer points of running a business and investing in the stock market. Which meant that many of the kids who got Pokémon wouldn't know the first thing about taking care of them. 

"Oh well… Pokémon isn't life, right?" Tanya giggled. She was just lying right through her pearly white teeth. 

Ever since Tanya had heard that Pokémon would one day be available to the public, she'd been learning as much information as she could. She had hoped that they would be of reasonable price, and you had to take some kind of trainer's test in order to be allowed to have a Pokémon, but of course that wasn't the case. That's not the way things worked. 

Tanya rested her arms behind her head, staring at her surrounding walls. The wall directly in front of her was loitered with pictures of the various cuddly creatures: Charmander standing beside Charmeleon, and behind them Charizard; Marill with its head tilted back, spraying a jet of water into the air and having it come down as a fountain. Tanya even had a picture of the three legendary birds battling it out against the guardian dogs. She laughed at the thought of actually seeing that.

"I wonder if they brought the legendaries too…" she mused. 

There was an Ekans alarm clock on her nightstand to the right, the upper body used as the hour hand and the tail as the minute hand. She was very fond of that little alarm clock because it always woke her up time with its little tail rattle. It was 10 o'clock already and Tanya wanted to wake up by 6:30, which is the time she set her alarm clock to go off.

~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn't too far passed 8 by the time Tanya reached the Reserve. She had biked for almost an hour to get there and found that the parking lot was full of luxurious looking sports cars, the sign of the wealthy. She would be way out of her element going in there, but she wanted to see the Pokémon up close, to see them for herself. 

The building was huge, not in height, but in size. It was the size of any average shopping mall and you could probably easily get lost in there. Taking a deep breath, Tanya pulled open the twin glass doors. She was greeted by the sight of a receptionist's desk, the woman behind it twirling a pen between her fingers, utterly bored.

"May I help you?" she asked blandly.

"I'm not here to buy a Pokémon, but I was wondering if I could take a look at them…"

"Sure, sure. Pin this number tag to your shirt so that the assistants know you're just browsing."

The woman handed Tanya a laminated card with the number 54 on it. She carefully pinned it onto her shirt as she was directed through the sliding glass doors off to the right. Inside it was like a Pokémon ranch, complete with an enormous pond, rocky terrain and grassy fields. A steel-gated fence separated each different habitat and a wire fence separated each area for the individual species of Pokémon. Tanya was impressed. Fire, Electric, Steel and Ground types were kept on the rocky ground; Grass, Psychic, Dark and Normal sorts were on the grassy plain and that left the Water and Ice types to the pond. There were kids all over as well, some accompanied by parents in suits and sweater-vests, other children such as herself that could only look on. 

Even if she would have had the money to buy one these Pokémon, Tanya didn't know which one she would pick. She was very fond of each type and many Pokémon, so she couldn't even begin to narrow down any selections. So Tanya went to the enclosure that was closest to her, which held the Meowth's. Meowth had always been a favorite of hers as she was a cat-lover, but she never did like that walking-talking Meowth that Team Rocket had on the television series. She laughed, wondering how many kids would want one of these Pokémon in hopes that it could walk and talk, or maybe even provide them money with it's Payday. One of the felines took notice to Tanya watching their small group of five and it trotted over to her, offering a small 'Meow' in greeting. 

"Hello, cutie," Tanya slipped her fingers over the wire that barely reached three feet, letting the Meowth sniff at them before petting the silken fur softly. 

__

"Meow meow meowth?"

"Uhh… Sorry, but I don't exactly understand Poké-talk," she grinned sheepishly. The small cat nodded understanding and pointed to Tanya, then motioned around the building. 

"Are you asking me what Pokémon I'm going to pick?" 

It nodded.

"I'm afraid I can't pick any. I just came here to look at all of you. I want a Pokémon, but guys are expensive, and I can't afford it. 

"Ooh! Mommy, I want that one!" 

A young boy was holding his mother's hand, he couldn't have been over the age of ten. He was bouncing up and down enthusiastically, pointing to the Meowth that Tanya was currently attempting to communicate with. Tanya smiled apologetically at the Meowth as the mother picked it up. She sighed, virtually invisible to the upper-class, and moved on to the next pen – Abra. 

Biting her lip, she crouched down and tried to get one of the three remaining Abra's attention. Abra often didn't associate with other Pokémon or people for that matter. They were asleep and would only wake up if someone caught their attention or if they were hungry. Tanya hung around for a couple minutes, it would be nice to talk telepathically with one of them, but she didn't seem to capture their attention. 

Tanya looked over to the rock part of the inside habitat - There was a large crowd around Pichu's area. She almost laughed at those kids. She knew full well that they only wanted Pichu because it evolved into Pikachu, the Pokémon that many kids adored just because Ash Ketchum had the cute little electric type that was so powerful. But Pichu only evolved into Pikachu through friendship, which meant that many of those kids probably wouldn't ever get Pichu to evolve if that's all they wanted it to do. Not only that, not every Pikachu would be as strong as the one they'd seen on the television. Many of them can only learn two different electric attacks because they have a minimal learning ability, and their resistance to other electrical attacks is very low which doesn't help their already low endurance level. 

Too bad none of them had ever taken the time out to actually study a Pichu and the form they hoped it would take. Tanya shook her head slowly and made her way over, but she turned away from the cage of the electric Pokémon and headed towards the Ground Pokémon, specifically Cubone.

Cubone had always been of favorite of Tanya's. She sat down in front of their pen, all six of them were still there. Tanya liked Cubone, most Ground types were weak when it came to flying Pokémon, but since Cubone had its bone to throw at them, its only real weakness came against Psychic types. Not only that, but she had always wondered what one of them looked like under the skull that it wore. Many people had the idea that it wore the helmet because it was ugly, but Tanya knew differently. Cubone's wore the skull of their deceased mother as a sign of respect and that their spirit may live on forever, which is why they only had one offspring. 

"Attention future trainers," a male voice echoed on a loud speaker, "there is a minimized Pokéball hidden somewhere in the Safari Reserve. The person who finds it may bring it to the front receptionist desk and will be allowed to select a Pokémon from the Reserve… for free!" 

There was a loud whoop from the kids. All of them immediately began searching for spherical red and white ball, except for Tanya. She'd never had much luck finding things. Instead she stayed with the Cubone. A pair of them had been mock battling with their bones when they noticed that Tanya was still there, contentedly watching them. One of the male ones approached her, confused, and she could understand that.

"With all of those kids running around I'd never find the Pokéball. Besides, I like watching you guys," she looked at the price sign that hung on of the posts near their pen, "if I ever get $45,000 – I'd want to get one of you," Tanya smiled proudly, settling her dispute of which Pokémon she would start off with… If her parents ever won the Lottery, that is.

The Cubone tilted its head at her. He then lifted his bone and pointed it towards a small crevice between two nearby rocks that were jutting out. Tanya followed the direction the bone was pointed in and tentatively reached her hand into it. Her fingers touched something round. She grabbed the object and pulled it out, it was the minimized Pokéball. She smiled gratefully at the Cubone and went to stand up, but Tanya was roughly shoved back into the ground, her head hitting the rocks she had just pulled the Pokéball out of.

"Thanks, kid," the guy said, plucking the ball from her hand. He had to be at least 15, lean with ashy blond hair. It was obvious from the sweater vest he wore that he had a lot of money, enough to afford one of these Pokémon instead of getting it for free.

"Hey! I found that!"

"Sure you did, kid…" he rolled his eyes at her.

Tanya was powerless to stop him as he walked away. He was older and bigger, which meant that he could only hurt her. Sometimes it just didn't pay to be young. Tanya saw the Cubone that had pointed her in the direction of the Pokéball lift his bone, ready to throw it at the teenager.

"Don't. Just let him go," she said dejectedly. She wanted to run to the receptionist, tell her that the guy had taken the sphere from her. But she was well-educated for her age, she knew that they would believe him over her. They would blow her off as a whining child who just wanted a Pokémon. 

__

"Bone…" 

Cubone reluctantly dropped the bone back down to his side, but he looked to be deep in thought. He called over the other Cubone and whispered something to them. They nodded.

__

"Bone bone cubone," they each called in unison, getting the attention of many of the surrounding Pokémon. 

Tanya was confused. She had no way of understanding them and had never read about anything like this before. So she could only watch as the rest of the Pokémon seemed to pass along the same message in their Pokémon tongue. 

The ashy-blond teenager that had stolen the Pokéball passed by her with an assistant to help him pick out a Pokémon. He smiled smugly at her and Tanya just stared back. The teenager stopped in front of the pen of Machop, a Pokémon that cost about fifty thousand dollars. He looked at each of them carefully, trying to select the one that he wanted. But they all turned their backs to him. He blinked. The assistant with him was bewildered as to what the Machop were doing, but stated the obvious.

"I don't think any of them are interested. Perhaps you'd like to pick another?"

"No way! I want a Machop!" he shouted stubbornly. 

One of the Machop turned around, its arms crossed over its muscular chest. It began yelling at the boy in its name speech. The other Machop turned around and began doing the same. Utterly confused, the teenager tried to quiet them, but he didn't have a clue as to how to do that. More Pokémon began yelling at the boy and he whirled around in circles, looking and listening to all of them in wonderment, making himself dizzy in the process. The assistant who was with the boy seemed to get the hint, though.

"Did you really find this Pokéball, sir?" the woman asked.

He nodded. But the Pokémon shook their heads. The assistant believed the mass of Pokémon over the young teenager.

"Then who found it?" 

They all pointed to Tanya. The woman nodded and left the teenager, handing the Pokéball to Tanya.

"Pick any one you want, sweetie."

Tanya smiled. She'd finally get her Pokémon! She turned to the cage of Cubone, looking for the male that had pointed her to the ball in the first place.

"Would you like to come with me?"

The Cubone nodded.

"Okay then," she said, grinning broadly. After watching so many episodes of Pokémon, she felt like a pro with what she was about to do… "Pokéball go!"

Tanya tossed the Pokéball at the Cubone, watching as his form turned to a body of red dots that were sucked into the ball by a small beam. She reached over the fence and grabbed the ball. Unable to resist the urge, she held the sphere out in front of her and flashed the V for victory sign.

"I caught a Pokémon!"

"C'mon, dear, we need to register your Pokémon and get you some extra Pokéball's," the assistant said, surprisingly helpful and cheery about her duty. 

The blond teenager was left glaring after her, his jaw set firmly. 

"I'm gonna make your life a living nightmare…" he seethed.

"Steven? Have you picked out a Pokémon yet?"

"Yeah, dad."

Steven's dad picked up a squirming Machop out of the pen, calling over one of the staff members who provided them with a Pokéball to put the muscled Pokémon into. His dad wrote out the check, sneering slightly at the price of it, but knowing full-well that he could afford it. Steven bounced the ball in his hands, satisfied with himself.

"Let's see that little twit beat this…"

"What was that, son?"

"Nothing," Steven mumbled quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Mom, dad, I'm home!" 

"Tanya, do you realize you've been gone all afternoon?"

"Sorry, dad… But look what I got."

Tanya proudly held up her Pokéball and even her sister Amy looked interested. She tossed it to the ground, releasing Cubone.

"Good heavens, child, how did you get that?" her mother asked incredulously. 

"They let one of the kids their pick out a free Pokémon… And I got it," Tanya smiled proudly, "you don't mind, do you?" she added quickly.

"Of course not. But you're going to be the one that takes care of it," her father warned.

"Right-o! C'mon, Cubone." 

Cubone eagerly followed Tanya to her room. He crawled up onto the bed where she'd patted her hand and looked around. There were Pokémon stuffed animals neatly decorating one corner of her room, various cards and movie cases were sitting neatly on her shelf and even her walls were adorned with various posters. 

"I think you need a nickname."

__

"Cu."

"Uhh… Was that a yes?" 

He nodded.

"Alright then. How 'bout…" Tanya sat thoughtfully for a moment, "Fury?"

Cubone grimaced and shook his head.

"Okay… Whaddya think of Savoc?"

__

"Bone!" it nodded.

"Welcome to the real world, then, Savoc."


	2. Learning

****

Pokémon

The Real World

By Toreina-Mei

a.k.a.

The Dark Trainer

****

Episode Two

:

Learning

*****

Tanya scrambled around her room, frantic and rushed. Her backpack sat open on her bed, Cubone next to it and obediently holding his Pokéball. Clothes were scattered about the floor, stuffed animals thrown in disarray, and Tanya's rumpus was sticking up in the air as she peered under her bed. 

"Ha!" she declared triumphantly, pulling out her folder and hastily shoving it in her backpack. 

"Tanya! It's 9:10!"

Her eyes widened, her movements becoming quicker and clumsier as she raced to find her trainer's belt. Upon finding it hanging carefully in her closet, she snatched it from its hanger and buckled it around her waist, not even bothering to put it through the loops of her pants. Cubone held out his Pokéball for her and she grabbed it, recalled Savoc into the sphere, minimized it and hung it on her belt. It was a squeeze to fit the ball into its cupped holder and the plastic band that went over it and held it in place, but done quickly enough it slipped right in and held it securely. Tanya grabbed her backpack from the bed and raced out the door of her room and house. 

It was times like these that made her believe that living across the street from the school was not such a terrible thing. 

Traffic littered the two-lane street, as always, and Tanya became immediately annoyed with it. School started at 9:15 – The late bell was at 9:20. She didn't want to be late. Not today. She would not walk into school late on the day she came with a Pokémon. Her very ownPokémon! A gap in the cars finally appeared and Tanya ran through it, hurrying through the gates of the school. And, naturally, her class just had to be in the back of the school. 

No one was in the hallways, so the first bell must have already rung. She walked as fast as she could to her class, not wanting to get in trouble for running if she were to be seen by an administrator, and was just waiting for the late bell to sound. Tanya made it to her class and into her seat without hearing the bell ring. 

She let out a long breath, both slightly winded and proud that she had made it to class on time. With a satisfactory feeling swelling within her, she calmly took out her folder for the class – Pokémon Studies. It wasn't until she plopped her folder on her desk and looked up that she noticed her teacher staring at her. Tanya, baffled, raised her eyebrows. Absently-mindedly, she checked the clock, discovering that the late bell had already rung minutes ago. She shifted in her seat, suddenly uncomfortable. 

"Well, Tanya, you're off this time. Next time it's a detention," Mr. Patski warned lightly, "Now, as you all know, I'm sure – The Pokémon Reserve opened yesterday. Did any of you stop by?"

Several people raised their hands, none of which Tanya remembered seeing there.

"And did anyone get a Pokémon?" he chuckled, expecting no one to raise their hand.

Tanya looked around, wanting to make sure she was the only person before she raised her hand, but found that Jayme Parell already had her hand raised high. 

"I did!" she called out sweetly, grinning broadly.

Mr. Patski instantly became interested and beckoned Jayme to the front of the room. She absolutely loved being the center of attention and everyone seemed eager for her to get up in front of the class; she smiled, genuinely pleased and excited at the prospect of showing off. Tanya slid low in her seat, crossed her arms and huffed. 

"Well, everyone, as you know Pokémon are very expensive. Some costing as much as eighty-nine thousand dollars! But, the Pokémon I selected cost only forty-five thousand. Now, I'd like to ask everyone to stay back because I'm going to let her out and she doesn't like strangers. She's kind of shy."

Jayme giggled and smiled, slid her small trainer's bag off of her shoulder (to which Tanya sneered at as it was the Misty-fashioned bag) and pulled out a single Pokéball. She placed it on the ground gently and pressed the large, white button to open it. 

__

"Vul?"

The class cooed in unison, entranced by the innocence of the creature. Next to Jayme, it was small, but it was obvious that it was bigger than a housecat, though not as big as a dog like a Chinese Chow. Its seemingly delicate build, small nose and large ears, neatly groomed fur and curled tufts of hair, curiously, didn't make Vulpix beautiful – Rather, it was the epitome of cute. Tanya swore from that day on that Vulpix was the definition of cute, despite her harsh dislike for Jayme and her flamboyant mannerisms. 

Vulpix backed away slowly, hiding unsuccessfully behind the feet of Jayme. Jayme twisted around and picked up Vulpix, cradling her in her arms tenderly. More than one person was anxious to get up and pet the Pokémon, but they were never given the opportunity as Jayme recalled her frightened Pokémon. 

For a moment, Tanya contemplated the mannerisms of the Vulipx. Why did they seem… wrong? She realized then that it was odd for a Vulpix to cower like that. Granted, each would have their separate personalities, but they were naturally arrogant, proud animals. (No, not animals, Tanya thought, Pokémon). They weren't shy, or cowardly. They were depicted often as snobs. Like Jayme, Tanya brooded.

"Thank you for sharing, Jayme. You're a very lucky young lady, I hope you know," said Mr, Patski.

"Yeah," she smiled.

"It's a shame no one else here was lucky enough to get a Pokémon. We could have witnessed a battle first-hand."

"I have one," Tanya said calmly, though her stomach had twisted in her nervousness; she didn't like it when everyone stared at her.

"Spectacular! Let's go out back, then."

The class eagerly got up.

"Wait. This isn't fair. She knows I have a Vulpix, but I don't know what she has."

"Cubone," Tanya answered.

Immediately Tanya thought of what a dumb move that had been. She shouldn't have told her! Before a battle, people don't know what Pokémon the other person has, they just have to try and take everything into account. But, she was proud to have a Pokémon and she couldn't wait for them to know what it was.

"Those ugly bone-things?" Jayme made a disgusted face, to which Tanya took great offense.

"Like your Vulpix is any better. What'd you do to it anyway?" she spat, "you scare its ego away already?"

Jayme gave her a funny look, which made her feel pretty stupid.

"No… That's how just how she is."

"Defected," Tanya ridiculed. 

"Gees, you don't have to be so rude. I didn't do anything to you," Jayme said and picked up her pace, walking away from her.

They moved into position, taking opposite sides approximately fifty yards apart. The Pokémon had to have plenty of space to battle, and the trainers had to be out of harms way- or at least have time to move should an attack go awry. The class made a large circle, full of gaps, around the battlefield. Jayme again placed her ball on the ground and pressed the button, releasing Vulpix. Tanya slid her Pokéball out and tossed it to the ground; the impact somehow triggered it to open. Something like the way an air bag works in a car. 

"Go, Savoc," she said, though she felt pretty foolish saying it. 

Saying the name in front of the others made it sound less great then when she had first thought it up. It was just a play on Havoc. Besides, 'Savoc' sounded better. He appeared and was quick to assess the situation, noting instantly that there was a Pokémon across from him to battle. Savoc spread its legs and raised his bone in an attacking stance; Tanya was impressed. 

Vulpix was actually the larger of the two.

"Charge it!" Jayme commanded.

Was she an idiot? Cubone's had tough skin, so a tackle attack would hardly phase it.

"Wait for it."

She planned to wait until it was in close range, then Savoc would be able to bat it away with its bone-club.

"Springboard!"

What the-? Tanya didn't know what it was doing until Vulpix had jumped, kicked off of Savoc's skull helmet with its hind legs and jumped high in the air. Higher than any animal could. 

"Fireblast it, hon," Jayme instructed, cocky. 

  
Tanya really didn't like her tone. 

"Bone-berang!" 

With a nod, he pulled his arm back and then flung the bone at Vulpix. Tanya's eyes widened when the bone missed. Damnit! She shouldn't have agreed to this without finding out what level Savoc was at- she didn't know his strengths, weaknesses, or what he was even capable of! Her eyes widened further when Vulpix discharged a jet of fire, heating her up even though she was a safe distance away. Savoc was standing there. Why was he just standing there?

"Get out of the way!" Tanya shouted desperately, taking a step forward as if she were going to run in but then thought better of it.

He wasn't fast enough to get out of the way, so he dropped and buried his head, trying to cover it with his short arms. The fire splashed over his back and he screamed. It was the most horrible sound she had ever heard; a loud, shrieking _"Booooh!"_ sound with the growl in his voice mingled in with it too. Tanya winced, but she didn't run over just yet. If she did, then the match would be over. Savoc could still get up… she hoped. Pikachu always did for Ash, she just had to believe he would do the same for her. He didn't get up. His back was charred with black, but it wasn't scalded. It shouldn't have been humanly possible, but she saw it: his back burnt like the edges of a piece of paper. 

"What's wrong with you? Go check on him!" Jayme called to her.

Tanya sighed. He wasn't getting up. She jogged over to him and knelt down beside him, mindful of the eyes of her classmates on her. Up close, it looked a lot worse. Savoc's skin was reddened and raw and now she felt really bad. She touched him tentatively, wary of his injuries. 

  
"Savoc?" she whispered.

She was really _really_ worried when he didn't respond. Was he unconscious? Or worse? Tanya bit her lip and looked to Mr. Patski, who approached her with a spray bottle. A potion. She had seen pictures of them, but she didn't think to buy any at the Reserve. She took it gratefully and sprayed Savoc twice with it. She waited. And nothing happened. 

"It'll take some time for him to heal. Recall him into his Pokéball."

Numbly following his orders, she returned him to his ball. She walked along with the class, thinking about the battle. She was a horrible trainer. God, she didn't even know what he could do. When they got home, they would be doing some major training. No more battles, not for a while. Not until she was confident she knew what Savoc could do, and improved his aim. 

Some of her classmates, actually all of them, were talking about the battle. They weren't even trying to keep their voices down when they said "she sucks". Tanya's cheeks were burning, her palms were sweating and her heart was still beating from the nervousness and excitement that had been involved with the battle. She already knew she wasn't going to be able to survive if they kept on going, insulting her abilities. She knew what she was doing, she just… made some beginners mistakes. Big, fat mistakes. Someone said she didn't care about her Pokémon. That just made Tanya feel worse. Savoc had been down, but she still waited like he was going to get up and make some spectacular comeback – she had hoped no one else would have noticed. Obviously, and unfortunately, they did. 

And if that wasn't enough Mr. Patski was analyzing the battle! Tanya blinked her eyes, fighting back tears, and stared at her hands folded over her binder. Jayme had taken a risk using Cubone as a springboard – big deal. Everything Tanya had down was wrong. She should have had him use a tackle – and should have known that his aim was poor – and his skull plate would have knocked Vulpix out of it. 

The period couldn't end fast enough and Tanya was out the door as soon as it did. She didn't go to her next class, though, she went to the clinic. She couldn't cope with a day of ridicule. It's not like they had any Pokémon. They didn't know what being in a battle was like. Nervous. Tense. Quick decisions have to be made. It was her first battle – did they expect her to make all the right ones on her first attempt? But Jayme had. Which made Tanya feel lousy. She should have been better than her, but she wasn't. 

Tanya complained to the nurse of a migraine and an uneasy stomach. The bit about her stomach wasn't a lie either. She felt like she could spend a good fifteen minutes in the bathroom regurgitating her breakfast out in the toilet. Wait. No, she didn't remember eating breakfast. Ha! She had been so excited about showing off her Pokémon, and frantic about being late, that she had entirely forgotten to eat. 

The nurse wouldn't let her stay the entire day and sent her out in time for lunch. Tanya hoped that no one would bring up her battle, that it would have already died down. But it hadn't. 

"So, I heard you got your ass kicked. Kill your Pokémon already?" Derik, a seventh grader, taunted.

"No!" she cried defensively.

She stormed off to find some place quiet to eat. She brought out Cubone too, to give him lunch and see how he was. He wasn't healed fully. Actually, his skin still looked pretty cooked, but if he moved carefully he seemed all right. Tanya watched him closely, pitifully, as he at the Pokémon chow she had given him.

"I'm so sorry, Savoc. I won't make you battle again."

He looked at her, just staring with nothing in his expression. Though, it was hard to gage the full expression if it couldn't be seen. Tanya felt compelled so say something else.

"And we're gonna train when we get home. I shouldn't have made you battle without testing you first. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. At all."

Savoc nodded once, slowly. He didn't seem angry, but she did feel like he was giving her the cold shoulder. Tanya knew she deserved it. She had really messed up. Hurting a Pokémon was definitely a moral, not mortal, sin it seemed. Not hurting them physically, but emotionally. Tanya was sure she had offended him, or hurt him, in some way – but she wasn't sure what exactly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again, touching his helmet. She ran her thumb over it, it was smooth with faint line indentations that most (straight) animal horns have. If he saw how honestly apologetic she was, then maybe it would get that sad, blank look out of his eyes.

*****

****

Author's Note – Hey folks! Been a while. A _long_ while. I didn't even want to keep writing this anymore, but I had the inspiration for another chapter. I had started writing it anyway, so I just finished it up. I think I'll probably continued with this, though rather periodically. Currently, I'm taking a Creative Writing course in high school, so I'm going to see how that helps my skills. 

****

Teaser – There's more to this story then we know… Much, much more. 


End file.
